Catching Your Eye
by SpyGirl1969
Summary: In The Triumvirate when Amanda looks up and catches Lee watching her, what if Amanda had called him on it?


Disclaimer: I don't own, nor am I affiliated with Warner Brothers and/or Shoot the Moon Productions. This story is purely the result of a challenge issued at Bromfield Hall, and therefore a combination of the challenge issuer's and my imaginations. I am not making a profit from this endeavor. I did borrow and bump up a similar dialogue to the one that occurs in All the World's A Stage, and therefore will credit the writer of said dialogue, Richard Raskind.

Timeline: Season 3 - The Triumvirate.

Summary: The Challenge issued at Bromfield Hall was as follows: AU but set during the season three episode "The Triumvirate" when Amanda looks up and catches Lee watching her before he hastily looks away. Instead of just smiling and looking back at her magazine, what if Amanda calls him on it…? Requirement: Francine doesn't walk in on them. Use at least two of the following: Lee gets embarrassed and defensive, then goes into complete denial; Lee and Amanda admit how they feel about each other; Lee being the one that gets flustered and babbles, while Amanda is amused about the whole thing; Lee and Amanda argue; Billy/Francine phoning at a very inopportune moment.

Warning: A/U. This story doesn't adhere to canon. At all.

Thanks: Thank you to the instigator of this challenge and also many thanks to my fabulous team of betas for catching all of my goofs and comma issues!

Rated: PG-13

**CATCHING YOUR EYE**

Amanda King sighed and rolled her neck gently from side to side, trying to work the kinks out of her tense muscles. She looked back down at the magazine article she was attempting to read. Feeling herself being watched, her eyes moved of their own volition and came to rest on her partner, Lee Stetson, who hastily looked away.

Puzzled, she tore her gaze away from him and tried to find where she'd left off in the magazine. Idly she wished she'd taken Lee up on his suggestion to watch a movie; that way, at least, she wouldn't have had to concentrate so hard. The selection of reading material was scant; she had abandoned "Today's Collectibles" for a celebrity magazine, but it wasn't much better. The article she was reading, one about a famous spa that was currently all the rage among Hollywood's finest, wasn't exactly rocket science, and yet she had read the same paragraph about Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson's Peruvian mud bath ravings three times.

Amanda cleared her throat and immediately felt Lee's gaze upon her again. She tried to ignore it, willing her eyes to remain on the printed page, or even on Loni's too-perfect set of teeth. Covertly, when she couldn't stand it any longer, she glanced up a third time, but was surprised to find thathis stare rested, not on her face but on her legs. At first, she thought that maybe she was mistaken, but she watched him off and on for almost a full a minute, and he was definitely staring at her legs.

Unable to resist the temptation, she slowly uncrossed her legs and then crossed them again in the opposite direction. She saw him gulp and blink rapidly and realized he was actually blushing.

Their eyes met, and Lee offered a sheepish, crooked grin. She smiled back and set her magazine aside. "Something wrong, Lee?"

As though snapping out of a reverie, he met her eyes, appearing startled. "Hmm? What?"

Leaning over, she pretended to check her stockings. "Is it a run? A smudge? The wrong color? What?" Raising her eyebrows at him innocently, she slowly ran one hand from her ankle to her knee.

"Oh, uh . . . " he stammered, his eyes widening. "No. Why do you ask?"

She cocked one eyebrow. "Because you keep staring at me critically as if somethingisout of place or missing. I'm just wondering what it is that's distracting you, so I can fix it. I can't read with you watching me so closely."

Lee glanced around the room, as though at a loss for words. Then his gaze settled back on her, clearly surprised that she was confronting him. Amanda knew why he was taken aback; lately his attention had been lingering upon her more and more often and for longer periods of time. Although she enjoyed his supposed interest, she was unsure whether there was anything to it or not. Maybe it was merely curiosity. She knew she had become extremely curious about him.

Sometimes Amanda felt as if their relationship was progressing, and other times he was as emotionally distant as ever, although it had been quite a while since she'd heard his "there's nothing between us" speech. She wasn't sure if that speech was meant to be more for her benefit, or his.

"What? No," he hedged. "There's nothing wrong with you at all. Why would I stare at you? I mean, if you say I was, then I probably was, but not because I wanted to." He winced. "That sounded awful. I didn't mean that I didn't want to stare at you, although I didn't. I guess . . . I guess I was just thinking, and sometimes when I think, I just stare, you know? I wasn't staring at you on purpose, in other words. I was just kind of spacing out, and my eyes landed on you. But not to stare. I wouldn't stare."

He took a deep breath, and Amanda let out the laugh she'd been holding in. "Oh, boy, Scarecrow. You'd better never tease me or complain about _my_ rambling again. I think you deserve some kind of prize for that one!"

Frowning, Lee shook his head. "Amanda, I was just trying to explain – "

"Never mind," she told him, her attention returning to her magazine. "It doesn't matter. Just next time you decide to space out and do your deep thinking, stare at something on the opposite side of the room, will you?" She'd tried, but she'd been unable to keep the irritation out of her voice. He used the same old defense mechanisms every time – he would never change.

"I'm sorry if I offended you," he began again.

"You didn't offend me," she replied, the words sounding a little too sharp to her own ears. She forced herself to smile, but knew it didn't reach her eyes. Why did she let herself believe that he might actually want to get to know her better? Even if he did, on some level, he would never allow himself to 'slum it,' as Francine would say, with someone like her. The unflattering expression caused her to feel even more annoyed at him, at herself, at the whole ridiculous situation. "Just forget about it. I'm probably just being overly sensitive anyway. I'm a little on edge tonight."

"Yeah, uh . . . me, too," he replied, his voice husky. The deepened timbre caused her blood to flow faster, and she silently cursed herself for being so vulnerable to everything about him.

She refrained from looking directly at him, but saw out of the corner of her eye that he raked a hand roughly through his hair. Perhaps he really was just lost in his own thoughts, and here she was, reading into it and giving him a hard time.

"How about some tea?" she asked, to change the subject, pushing herself up and off the couch.

He smiled in relief, nodding. "Tea sounds good, thanks."

As the water came to a boil on the burner, Amanda found tea bags, cups and saucers, honey, and a spoon. She stood, transfixed by the fire under the kettle, thinking about her partner. Would she ever be able to rid herself of the dreams that teased her almost nightly? She was getting to the point where she was unable to look at him without her heart skipping a beat, and found herself staring at him every chance she got, imagining what it would feel like for him to wrap his arms around her and kiss her senseless.

Men occasionally showed an interest in her, but she never accepted dinner invitations anymore. She compared every man she met to Lee. When Joe had come back after the whole mess he'd had in Estoccia, she'd felt sure that he wanted to rekindle their relationship. She had done everything she could to discourage him from even trying. It was also getting more difficult to control the jealous and ridiculously possessive urges whenever another woman even glanced appreciatively at Lee.

Those dreams . . . Amanda always remembered them in vivid detail and found herself playing them over and over in her mind throughout the day. Which was crazy – they would never come to fruition; she was merely torturing herself.

As the kettle began to whistle, she barely took note of it, she was so lost in her ruminations.

Lee's voice caught her off guard. "Water's hot," he said simply.

Amanda gasped and jumped, spinning around and coming face to face with Lee, her heart pounding. He placed one hand casually on the tile counter, leaning closer to her.

"Yeah," she managed. She began to turn back to the stove, but he placed his free hand on her shoulder, his thumb rubbing back and forth. She felt her eyes flicker up to meet his and caught an enigmatic look flash across his face. "Water's hot," she repeated inanely, her voice coming out in a whisper.

Lee's lips were slightly parted. She saw his tongue dart over them and, feeling her knees tremble, wondered how much longer she'd be able to stand there without assistance. Almost without thought, she leaned back against the counter for support.

He nodded, glancing at the kettle, which was now rocking in addition to its high-pitched wail. Releasing her shoulder for a moment, he turned off the burner and then placed his hand on the opposite side of the counter, effectively trapping her in the corner.

Amanda felt the flush creeping over her skin and knew her eyes must be glazing over from his nearness. She released a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding and said raspily, "I'd better fix the tea before the water gets cold."

"It'll keep," he asserted in a gruff whisper, moving his body even closer to hers. He began to close the distance between their lips, his eyes intent on his destination.

Amanda's head fell back and she felt her eyes begin to close.

The phone rang, jarring them both. Lee pushed away from the counter, the startled 'deer in the headlights' expression back in place. He said somewhat loudly, "Phone!" and then he was gone, rushing back into the living room to answer its persistent ring.

Amanda placed a hand on the counter where Lee's had just rested, bracing herself and taking a deep breath. Her heart was drumming wildly against her rib cage. There was no doubt in her mind that Lee had been about to kiss her. She'd never seen such an openly hungry look in his eyes before. Silently she cursed the telephone and whoever was calling.

She set about opening tea bags and pouring water. Her pulse slowly returned to normal as she listened to Lee's half of the conversation in the other room. She knew she should be prepared for him to act as if nothing had happened. If this time were anything like their previous near-kisses, he would by now be back in 'agent mode', fully Scarecrow, in complete denial of whatever had almost occurred.

Well, she could play it that way, too. She wasn't about to open herself up to his offhanded explanation and refusal to own up to his actions. Resolved, she picked up the saucers, pleased to see that there was only a slight tremor in her hands, and headed back into the living room.

"Yeah, Billy," Lee was finishing up. "Sure, it's no problem at all. No, don't send anyoneelse, I'll stay. When will the reinforcements get here? Okay, good. Yeah. I'll call if anything new develops. Bye."

Setting the tea down on the coffee table, she glanced at him expectantly. "What's up?"

"Francine got a call from Billy, or so she thought," he explained, appearing to have forgotten all about their intimate encounter in the kitchen. "Apparently someone claiming to be Billy called her, telling her to come over here because I was needed back at the Agency. But Francine was suspicious and called Billy back to clarify some things, and that's when Billy told her he didn't know what she was talking about – he hadn't called her at all."

Amanda absorbed this information. Leaning forward, her brow furrowed in concern, she clasped her hands and said, "So something strange is going on. Do you think we're in danger here?"

He shook his head. "Billy's sending back-up," he said. "At least we have some warning. I'm going to call down to the guards and let them know what's going on."

"I'm worried, Lee," she admitted.

"If he gets within a hundred yards of this place, they'll get him." Lee placed the call to the guards and informed them what had happened, letting them know more agents were on the way.

Hanging up the phone, Lee glanced at the chair he'd been sitting in, but moved over to the couch instead, sitting down close to her. Reaching for his tea, he said, "Thanks."

"Sure," she replied, picking up her tea and taking a sip. "I really am sorry you have to be here. I'm sure you had plans, but I have to say I feel better that you're here with me, especially now."

He swallowed his tea. "I didn't have any plans."

"Oh," she said, setting down her cup. "Still . . . " she shrugged and trailed off, not finishing the thought.

Turning his body so that he was facing her, he rested his right arm over the low back of the couch. "So, how's your magazine?" He picked it up from the coffee table where she'd left it and studied its cover.

Confused by his demeanor, which was suddenly very attentive, she shrugged and said noncommittally, "Not very compelling reading. There's only so much I care to know about the rich and famous. Besides, I guess I've been a little . . . preoccupied this evening."

"Yeah," he agreed, tossing the magazine aside, "I've been preoccupied, too. A lot preoccupied."

She nodded in understanding. "I know. This case –"

"It has nothing to do with the case," he interrupted, his eyes watching her steadily.

"It doesn't?" she questioned, watching with fascination as his left arm crossed over her to rest on the arm of the sofa. He seemed to be quite fond of pinning her in place. The smell of his cologne was intoxicating.

Shaking his head, he replied, "Not at all."

"Oh," she said again. Unable to remain silent under his intense scrutiny and proximity, she went on, "Well, I'm sure you have a lot on your mind; after all – " She gasped slightly as she felt his hand suddenly caressing her upper arm.

"Ah . . . " The exclamation came out in a shaky breath.

He leaned closer to her, his eyes boring into hers as his fingers caressed her. "Shhh." It was barely audible, this tacit request for silence. Slowly his face drew closer to hers, and she saw his hazel eyes drift shut. Her own eyelids became too heavy to hold open and fell closed as he captured her lips with his own.

The kiss was soft, cautious, searching, and over far too soon. She opened her eyes and saw in his, not a denial, but a request to continue. In answer, she closed her eyes once more, and this time the kiss was urgent and seeking. He moved closer to her, wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her closer to his body. For a moment, she wondered if she were dreaming, or drugged, or both.

When at last they broke apart, Lee spoke her name. "Amanda . . . " He'd never said her name like that before – reverently. Breathlessly. Full of desire.

She didn't speak. She couldn't speak. She just stared at him, wondering what had come over him tonight and hoping whatever it was wouldn't dissipate by the next time she saw him. All such fear, however, was dispelled when he spoke again.

"I've, uh . . . I've wanted to do that for a long time," he confessed, his voice rough and slightly tremulous.

She touched his face, her fingers lightly caressing. "Me, too," she said, causing him to smile.

"There's a lot I don't know about you, Amanda King, but I'm sure going to enjoy finding out," he told her, leaning in for another kiss.

She returned the kiss, but in the back of her mind, doubts began to nag at her. As he trailed delicate kisses from her earlobe to her neck, she remembered other occasions when he'd kissed her, or had come close to doing so, and had later brushed it off as being in the line of duty or "just two people seeking a little warmth" or something equally effective at pushing her back to arm's length. Would the same thing happen this time? She felt like she kept setting herself up for the same disappointment.

He must have sensed her hesitation, because he backed up slightly, cupping a palm to her face. "Amanda, what is it? Have I . . . have I gone too far?"

Not knowing what to say, she shook her head. "No. Nothing . . . it's fine. I just . . . " Looking into his eyes, she saw them cloud over with confusion and apprehension.

"You don't . . . " He stopped and took a deep breath. "You don't feel the same way about me as I do about you?" he asked, looking appealingly vulnerable.

"That's just the problem, Lee," she explained. "I don't really know how you feel. Every time I think I do, I find out I'm totally wrong. Remember in the swamp, when Sacker's men were after us? You almost kissed me then. But we were interrupted. And later, at the Agency, you said we were just trying to stay warm."

He sighed, his breath teasing her face. "I know, and I'm sorry. I guess I just wasn't ready to admit it yet."

She held her breath, not knowing whether to hope for the best or prepare for the worst. "To admit what?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Lee licked his lips and glanced at her nervously. "Amanda, this is all new to me. Every time we get . . . close, I back off. Partly because I haven't been ready to take the next step with you, and partly because I'm afraid of getting too close to you, because I lose everyone I get close to. I mean – Amanda, you have to know that you're my best friend." He paused, his eyes pleading with her to understand.

Her heart hammering, she smiled. "And you're mine," she said.

He grinned and then leaned over to softly kiss her cheek. He reached for her hand and took it into his, continuing. "I was so worried that if things didn't work out between us, I'd lose you as a friend. Why risk that? To some extent, I still feel that way. But feeling that way hasn't stopped me from . . . wanting more."

She took a deep breath. This was a big step for Lee Stetson, and it surprised her. Her assumption, for so long, had been that he viewed her simply as a friend, and nothing more. "Lee, I do understand that. Aside from the fact that I've convinced myself you would never feel that way about me, I've had fears about losing you as a friend, too."

"Well . . . " He frowned slightly, as though trying to work things through in his mind. "What do you think about it? How do you feel? Is it . . . is it worth the risk?"

Sighing, she squeezed his hand. "I don't want us to start anything you're not ready for, Lee. Until tonight, I really did think that any feelings beyond friendship were almost entirely on my side. I mean, I hoped that one day you would . . . you know. But even then, I had the same doubts and fears. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm leaving it up to you. I need you in my life, Lee, and if it has to stay platonic, then I'll take it. I'll . . . I'll take whatever you want to give," she finished softly, daring to look up into his eyes.

His lips parted slightly and he gazed at her for a long moment. "Amanda, I want . . . I want . . . " He moved toward her. "More," he said finally, his lips brushing against hers. "So much more."

Amanda closed her eyes and in the next instant he possessively claimed her lips with his own. One arm went around her and he pulled her closer. His free hand rested on the back of her neck, his thumb caressing her behind one ear.

"Lee . . . " she murmured against his lips. He kissed her chin, her jaw, her ear.

"Hmm?"

Taking a breath, she whispered, "Please . . . just be sure."

"I'm sure."

Shaking her head, she knew he didn't fully understand. "I just can't . . . I won't be able to bear it if you tell me tomorrow that we were under stress or seeking comfort or that it was somehow in the line of duty."

He pulled back slightly, his forehead creasing. "I'm sorry about all those times, Amanda. I'll never say that again; I'll never make excuses fornot being able to keep my hands off you. And there will be a_ lot_ of those times . . . "

His last few words were almost too muffled to understand as she leaned forward and kissed him, the fingers of both her hands tangling in his hair. He responded eagerly, holding her tightly against him.

"Amanda," he said reverently.

She brought her hands down and placed them against his chest, looking into his hazel eyes. He took one of her hands in his and placed the back of it to his lips. Lightly kissing her knuckles, his eyes never left hers. "Amanda," he repeated.

Blushing at her partner's newly amorous behavior, she smiled hesitantly at him, feeling a nervous ramble bubbling up in her throat. "Funny, isn't it? We're usually interrupted by now . . . long before now, actually. I wonder why –"

The phone rang and Lee gave her a crooked, ironic grin. "Jinx," he whispered, kissing her neck. "Stetson," he said into the phone. "Yeah . . . Okay, good. Yeah, I'll tell Amanda."

Hanging up, he stood, bringing her with him. "That was Billy. He's downstairs; they caught Jeppard outside about ten minutes ago. In exchange for a lighter sentence – which he may or may not get – he's singing like a bird, telling them everything."

"Oh, what a relief," she said.

Nodding, he agreed, "Yeah, except now we have no reason to stay here any longer . . . alone . . . with no interruptions."

She grinned mischievously at him and said, "You're forgetting one thing, Lee . . . Mother and the boys are at Aunt Edna's. You could take me home and come in for a nightcap. Do you like hot cocoa with marshmallows?"

"With marshmallows, huh?" Grinning back at her, he put his arms around her. "Mrs. King, are you trying to seduce me?"

Giving him a quick kiss, she winked at him. "Not yet."


End file.
